Busy September
September is National Library Card signup month, according to the American Library Association. Signing up for a card lets you borrow items from the library. It's available at no charge to residents, teachers, students, and property owners in Rutland City, Rutland Town, Mendon, Tinmouth, and Ira. Taxes from those five towns directly support the library budget. And it's super easy to do! Out-of-town residents can join for $50 per year -- the same amount as City taxpayers pay.
You can also get a free card that lets you access our computers. Anybody can get one of those. You can also attend any of our events without a card (starting with a visit from serial library fan, knitter, and fan of donuts Hannah Miller, or Emmy-winning The Librarians screening at the Paramount Theater in downtown Rutland).
We have an all-star panel for the post-screening discussion:
Vermont author Jo Knowles will be discussing how book bans threaten her livelihood (and will be signing books, available in the theater from a pop-up Phoenix Books!).
Karen McCalla, Mill River Union librarian (the first librarian to be named Vermont Teacher of the Year), will be able to discuss how bans play out in school libraries, which have become the focal point of many of the challenges nationwide.
Joy Worland is a consultant with the Vermont Department of Libraries who specializes in educating librarians and library boards about best practices. As book bans are getting more organized, advance preparation is the key to battling censorship; Joy knows as much about this as anybody in the state.
And our special guest is The Librarians' EMMY AWARD WINNING producer, Janique Robillard, who will be able to discuss the stories behind the film, answer questions about the librarians featured, and more.